ST status to dominate Lok Sabha polls in hills

Darjeeling: The demand to grant tribal status to 11 Gorkha
communities is set to emerge as a major issue the coming Lok Sabha
elections, 15 years after it dominated the political landscape of the
hills.

The BJP has once again raked up the issue with Darjeeling
MP S.S. Ahluwalia meeting Union tribal minister Jual Oram with the
demand to grant the ST tag to the 11 hill communities.

Roshan Giri had claimed that the minister had sought six weeks to complete a report on the matter.

Gorkha
Janmukti Morcha president Binay Tamang immediately responded to the
visit terming it as political stunt and reminding that Bengal chief
minister Mamata Banerjee had written to the trial minister on February
14 on the matter.

GNLF
organised Banbo Festival at Chowrasta in Darjeeling

Tamang said at the initiative of the GTA, representatives of the 11 communities had met the minister concerned earlier.

However, it is the GNLF which seems to eye more political dividends.

"Granting
of ST status to the 11 Gorkha communities will definitely strengthen
our demand to bring the hills under the Sixth Schedule of the
Constitution," said Neeraj Zimba, a senior GNLF leader.

The Sixth
Schedule provision is largely for administration of tribal-dominated
areas in the Northeast. The GNLF wanted the provisions to be extended to
the hills even though the tribal population was only 33 per cent in
2005.

Observers believe the demand did not get the expected support from the hill population as non-tribals are in a majority.

However,
the issue seems to have given new enthusiasm to the GNLF, which
organised a Banbo Festival at Chowrasta in Darjeeling on Sunday. The
festival was started by Subash Ghisigh and is dedicated to shamans
(jhakris). The festival was discontinued after the Morcha ousted the
GNLF from power in 2008 and was revived only a few years back.

Many believe that Ghisingh had started the festival to "showcase the tribal character" of the hill people.

The Telegraph

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The demand to grant tribal status to 11 Gorkha communities is set to emerge as a major issue the coming Lok Sabha elections, 15 years after it dominated the political landscape of the hills.GNLF, which organised a Banbo Festival at Chowrasta in Darjeeling